How to not get lost in Hebron, Palestine: Arriving in Hebron can be very overwhelming, especially if it is your first time in the Middle-East. People speak a different language than yours, cars drive in a way (that you will get used too!) that seems extremely dangerous, and most intriguing… there are no numeral addresses here. In other words, if you want to find a specific place in Hebron, you must know what is around the place, in addition to the name of the street.
The Excellence Center, for example, is near Ein Sara street, behind the al-Hussein football field and beside a mosque. In other terms, when you arrive in Hebron, take note of what is around you. I would also strongly recommend any visitors to download the offline Google map of the city on their phone, and to “pin” important locations when they get the chance. Since I live with a host family, I also asked my host sister to write down on a piece of paper the location of our house in both English and Arabic, in case I needed to ask for directions or to give to a taxi driver.
Downloading a map of the city and marking any important places on it is then my first important advice to give to visitors to not, or at least avoid to get lost in Hebron.
My second advice is simply to not be afraid of asking for help in case of need. The residents of Hebron are extremely welcoming and willing to offer help and support to anyone who asks for it. Even more so when you explain to them the reason of your presence in Palestine. As an older man answered me when I told him I was here to volunteer after asking him for help when looking for a taxi in Bethlehem, “you are here to help us, so we want to help you”.
I found this statement to be believed by many other Palestinians. The first morning I walked to the Center, I trusted my google maps to lead me to the right place, which it did not. In other terms, I got lost. What did I do? I asked for help. I entered the first cellphone shop I saw (thinking I could at least use its wifi) and asked the man at the desk to show me the Excellence center on my map (it was not pined yet). Instead, he led me out of his store, locked the door and open the door to his car, telling me he would drive me there. Sure enough, I was at the center in a matter of minutes, safe and sound!
In the end, it is nearly impossible for a newcomer to not get lost in Hebron. It is a big city and as said previously, there are no addresses like we Westerners are used to. But it is possible to avoid to get lost or at least to find your way back.
Written by Caroline Vary-O’Neal
